In Quebec, milk has got game – literally.
Montreal-based agencies Nolin BBDO and Touché!PHD as well as interactive developer Five have teamed up to create Knitting Mania – or Tricot Mania, as it’s known in La Belle Province – as part of the ‘Lait: Source Naturelle de Réconfort‘ campaign for the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec.
And they’re creating a bit of history in the process: Knitting Mania is the first free iPhone and iPod Touch game to be offered by a Quebec advertiser.
‘It’s the first time a game application for a brand has been done in Quebec, so we’re testing the water to see if it’s something that sticks and correlates to overall messaging for us and our clients,’ said Mathieu Duffar, VP, Nolin BBDO, whose agency has overseen campaigns for the Fédération for over 15 years.
The game is part of a promotional website called Reconfortant.com (‘comforting’), which opens with the shot of an older lady drinking milk while knitting. As the shot widens, you see a knitted cape on a dressmaking dummy. The woman pauses to try on the fingerless gloves she is knitting, and then strikes a superhero pose. The game continues the theme by challenging viewers to ‘knit’ – Guitar Hero-style – a mysterious object that reveals itself to be a purple superhero mask. The creative theme, said Duffar, is that while milk is comforting (like knitting) it also has the ability to power a secret superhero lifestyle.
The game – available in both French- and English-language versions – was launched online and was then ported into Facebook before the iPhone version became available. Targeting 18- to 30-year-olds, it is part of a 360 advertising campaign including TV, radio, OOH, Facebook and online media.
‘The mandate for the Québec milk board is to engage Quebecers to stay connected with the Federation, as the volume of milk consumption has grown over the years,’ said Duffar.
